Sony's forecast that it would ship 14 million PS2s in the fiscal year to March 2005, down from 20.1 million in the year ended March 2004, came as a surprise to some analysts. Because of this, analysts in the US have been queuing up to predict that Sony will be forced to announce a price cut at this year's E3.

With the PS2 retailing for $179 in the US, it's currently the most expensive of the three major consoles and analysts are suggesting that Sony will come under pressure from game publishers to make the cut in order to stimulate software sales. Some analysts are even predicting that this month the Xbox, which currently retails at $149, will actually outsell the PS2 for the very first time in the US.